A good butt kickin'

I just got back from doing Z*U*M*B*A! Let me tell you, if you want a serious kick in the pants take Zumba. I love this class because not only do you get a work out, but it is FUN and seriously if you can make working out fun, I am all for it. I hate working out, I have never enjoyed running, or walking on the treadmill. I get bored on the bike and the elliptical oh my goodness, totally hurts, something about the way my body is moving is not natural. So when this whole Zumba craze came along I jumped on the band wagon and decided why not try it?? I promise you will NOT be dissapointed. At least give it a try, so fun!




Try it! :)

Food for the Soul

Have you ever noticed how influential music is in everyday life? I have always loved music. It can bring the spirit or push it away in a matter of seconds. It can put you in a good mood. Make you happy, sad, angry and a range of other emotions within the couple of minutes of the song. For me, music is an outlet. I have songs I listen to when I am in a good mood, or when I want to be in a good mood. This song is great for that. (Thanks to Carissa Townsend for introducing me to this video)





(P.S This is also the song in the Disneyland commercials, which does not help my extreme desire to go there again soon! Wish it wasn't so dang expensive!)





I recently saw the movie, Joyful Noise, and the music was incredible. I love hyms as well. They fill me with such joy and hope, for a better world and a better life. Here is one of my favorites:








I wish people (teenagers and young kids especially) realized how much music can influence ones life. Although many people don't listen to the lyrics closely, they are still being taken in. Just a food for thought, or for the soul...

Ode to Mater

I'm pretty sure my husband shed a tear this weekend, as he bid farewell to his beloved Mater.

This truck is/was my husbands pride and joy. He bought this truck before we were married and it has been semi faithful. This was his play truck, he would take it out in the desert and "find some mud" as he called it. Somehow he was able to find mud no matter where he was going. He spent many hours working on this truck, buying parts and trying to fix it up to be better. Unfortunately, it would never work for what we needed it for. He would get frustrated when he couldn't take Kenzi somewhere because it wouldn't fit her carseat, or because I refuse to ride in it because the door handles didn't work. (you would have to jimmy-rig it or reach through the window to the outside, pull on that handle and then open the door...lots of work!).

This truck will be (semi) missed. There have been many fun memories. I decided the best way to remember Mater would be to recall some of the fun times we had in it.

*I will never forget when I had taken this truck when preparing for my wedding. I had to run home and get something and I had to take my grandma and cousin with me. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but the truck is very high off the ground. I had to boost my grandma into the truck while my cousin tried to pull her in. We were all laughing so hard that it took us forever to get her in the truck.

*My poor mother is also too short and there were many times she struggled to get in the car.

*This truck was/is UGLY! We had a neighbor who (jokingly) used to ask when we were going to get rid of this "white trash" vehicle because it was bringing down her home value haha

So many fun memories in that truck. I hope that my husband finds another vehicle he loves as much as that one. Here's to finding a new family friendly vehicle, that my husband can fall in love with.

Picky people and eating healthy

I have come to the conclusion that picky people (that's ME) cannot eat healthy. I mean have you seen healthy food these days. Not only is it expensive, but it is gross. I just cannot get myself to force it down my stomach. I have looked and looked for healthy meal options in order to help me with my new years resolution of eating healthy and being more fit, and I have found nothing that even looks remotely delicious. I guess picky people just aren't meant to eat healthy.

This year I'm serious...

I know, I know, I say this every year and every year I fail, BUT this year I will not fail! This year, I am determined to better myself, and my life. So here is my cliche post, to go along with all the others this time of year.

Sometimes I feel like the reasons why so many New Year's Resolutions fail (mine in particular) is because they are often too lofty and unrealistic. Although my intentions are good, I often come up with too long of a list of things I can do better and therefore am overwhelmed with the so called list that I need to complete. So this year I have compiled a short list, that I feel can be achieved if I put my mind to it. So here it goes:

1. Get in shape and maybe even loose weight. I want to do something active 2-3x a week. Whether it be walking around the block, taking a zumba class, or just walking from one end of the mall to the other. Something, whether small or big, to get me moving and in shape. I want to be able to play and run with my kids, and live long enough to see them grow and have kids.

2. Become a better homemaker. I want to make more meals and eat out less. I want to be able to expand my cooking talents to more than just the basics (Mac and cheese, boxed dinners and pasta-I know I'm pretty lame). I want to learn the basics of sewing and be a better house keeper. I wanna spend less time on the couch and more time on my house.

3. Be a little kinder. You always here that phrase "Be kind because you never know what battle someone is fighting within." I think sometimes I forget this, and I definitely could be kinder. I want to do random acts of kindness, make someones day a little brighter and just be a better friend.

4. Improve my relationship with my Heavenly Father. Let's face it, life is busy and sometimes my priorities are a little backwards. I push the snooze button too many times, then end up running behind and forget to say my prayers. Or I'm too tired at night and I end up not reading my scriptures. I know these are typical "primary" answers but they definitely make a world of difference. I definitely need some improvement in this area.

5. Get my finances in order. Money is such a hard thing. Sometimes I feel like I can never get a good grasp on it. I want to learn how to budget, pay of my debts and eventually become debt free (as much as possible--the car and home will not be paid off anytime soon!) When you have the weight of a credit card debt on your shoulders sometimes it makes life that much more stressful, when it is completely uneccesary. Most of the time credit card purchases are petty and should never have been purchased. I also want to build up a rainy day fund, for when our tires need to be replaced, or something major breaks. It would be nice to have enough money set aside to get those things fixed.

I think that these goals are attainable and hope to make progress every month. With only 5 goals there should be plenty of time to get them accomplished. I am excited for what 2012 has to offer. 2011 brought us the end of a deployment, a baby and a new life without the gloom of deployments hanging over our heads. I am confident that 2012 can only get better!

Christmas, New Years and a Wedding

(First I would like to apologize for the poor quality of some of these pictures, they were taken off my camera phone.)

Whew this season has in fact been a busy one. Let's begin with the Beautiful wedding of my brother and his lovely wife Jordan. They were married at 8am Friday December 9th 2011 in the Snowflake Arizona Temple. Let me just say it was FREEZING like 4 degrees out or something, we could see our breath and there was definitely snow on the ground. But the Temple was BEAUTIFUL and so was this bride and groom. After the wedding we rushed down to Gilbert for the luncheon and reception at the Shenandoah Mill. Here is a picture of my lovely family with the bride and groom. (I am not sure what Kenny is doing, he kind of looks fake but I promise he was there haha)

Next came Christmas, Baby girl's first Christmas. I don't know why but I never really got into the spirit of Christmas this year, which is so sad. It seemed like no matter how hard I tried it just never really felt like Christmas. But we still had fun nonetheless. Here is a pic of my family (minus my dad, he was at Church already) on Christmas morning.

The next few pictures are of baby girl opening her pajamas on Christmas eve and her presents on Christmas day. She wasn't quite sure what to do with the presents or the wrapping paper so we had to help her, but overall I think she loved her toys and all the attention!

New years just happens to fall on Kenny's birthday (or maybe it's the other way around :)) but anywho it is always fun to have 2 celebrations at the end of the year. This year we went up to iur friends cabin in Pine. It is always fun to get together with our friends (who are pretty much family) and play cards, eat, laugh, eat and even play some dance on the Xbox kinnect. We always stay up too late, eat too much and have too much fun (is that possible?) and I wouldn't change that for anything. Baby girl sure had fun too being spoiled and passed around, she even took four steps multiple times throughout our stay, I bet she will be walking soon!